1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to semiconductor IC processing. In particular, this invention provides a method for achieving small line width control over semiconductor dimensions, thereby achieving greater feature density during IC manufacturing.
2. Background Art
It is an object of the present invention to convert a photoresist space pattern into a photoresist line pattern. An example of this is the use of a hybrid photoresist space image for gate conductor applications. A subtractive etch is currently used to form the gate, which requires a photoresist line rather than a photoresist space. In order to form the gate conductor from the hybrid space, the space must be converted to a line.
Previously used processes etched the photoresist space into a hard mask, then filled the hard mask with another material, such as silicon oxide. The oxide film is then polished, and the nitride hard mask stripped. The polished oxide can then be used to mask the gate conductor etch.